


A Girl Worth Fighting For

by narancheetos



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: F/M, First Love, Fluff, Love at First Sight, Meet-Cute, Mutual Pining, but george is your wing man and i think thats cute, sorta???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:55:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26023012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narancheetos/pseuds/narancheetos
Summary: Joe wanted to find a purpose to fight the war other than for glory and victory for his country. He wanted to find something better than that. He wanted a girl worth fighting for. And you were that girl worth fighting for.
Relationships: Joseph Liebgott/Reader
Kudos: 5





	A Girl Worth Fighting For

**Author's Note:**

> To say that this was inspired by the Mulan song is an understatement. I always wanted to write for loverboy over here and here I am. And this was also an early b-day gift for a dear mutual on mine on Tumblr. I hope y'all enjoy

For the longest time in his life, Joe wanted someone to spend his life with. It was one of the many things that were taught to him. Get a job, make money, get a wife, make babies, and bam, you’re set for life. Ever since WW2 broke out and every man had to join the army, Joe decided to push those thoughts away until the war was over. But there were times where his mind would drift to the idea of getting the girl of his dreams. How he’s gonna settle down and have the family he dreamed of.

But how the hell was he gonna do that when this was happening? It all seemed so far away and out of his reach, but hey, a boy could dream. Maybe one day he’ll be able to live his perfect life. Joe found himself thinking about that ideal life more than he thought he would. It plagued his thoughts and every little thing reminded of the life he’ll probably never get.

While eating the honestly unappetizing food at Camp Toccoa, he’d think how he and his wife will never have to eat shit like this when they’re together. How she’ll make him delicious meals, and if she didn’t have experience, then maybe they’ll learn how to cook together. There’d be flour on the floor and on the cupboards but those two wouldn’t care. 

Maybe she’ll ruffle his hair and smudge her flour-covered thumb on his cheek, creating a faint, white streak on his face. Maybe they’d laugh and her laughing would only be reserved for him, and him alone. His mind would also constantly drift towards his future wife while he laid on his bed, lonely, cold or hot, and just overall uncomfortable. 

The constant exercise and the ever looming worries as the day they would jump into Normandy grew closer left him sick. His head was constantly pounding and having a migraine and the only real comfort was with his friends and his hard, but nice bed. 

Joe would think that he wouldn’t have to experience these things though, once he finds the right gal. No more lonely nights, no more headaches, no more worries, and lastly no more bad food. And just overall a better and happier life. Why couldn’t that day just come sooner? War be damned, this was mostly what he was looking forward to. Joe would find himself smiling before going to sleep and those were the times that he wished would last. If his thoughts of a perfect life weren’t enough, a certain girl walking around camp fueled them even more.

Joe would constantly see peeks of you strolling around, a care-free yet confident attitude surrounded you. Your helmet usually was on whenever he saw you, but when he saw you without it- Oh Lord, he almost passed out. Your face was way more prominent, and the sun just brought out all of your features. You were practically glowing when that happened- Almost like a goddess, and he was almost inclined to believe that.

(H/C) hair slightly messy from the helmet, yet it looked so good on you. (S/C) skin that was clearly being taken care of. And those (E/C) eyes- Those beautiful eyes. But too bad those eyes were never on him. Joe swore that he’d give anything just to have you look at him. If Joe just had a few words to describe the mystery girl. It would be drop-dead-fucking gorgeous. And even that wasn’t enough. 

Joe would constantly stare at your direction, but when he blinked- you were already gone. At first, he thought he was going crazy. Joe would think that it was due to him growing mad due to Sobel’s training. But then he’d see the stunning girl talking to George, sometimes Toye, and even Winters. He’d see you on the far corner of the mess hall, laughing and joking around with a couple of guys he couldn’t care less to know the name of.

It seemed like wherever you go, the place would just bright up instantly and hidden smiles were revealed whenever you passed by. But you would carry that relaxing atmosphere with you, and the men would return to their previous, dull expressions. It was moments like those that reassured him that at least he wasn’t losing it. But no matter what, he couldn’t get a hold of the (H/C)-haired beauty. You were almost as fleeting as the sun’s rays when a storm and a few clouds rolled by.

At other times, he’d turned around and there you were. In the field, in the training grounds, in the mess hall, sometimes way ahead of him at Currahee. Joe would try to make his way towards you by running.

Key word: try.

Sooner or later he’d always be caught by Sobel and he’d be made to run Currahee alone. He didn’t even know you. He didn’t know what you liked, where you came from, how old you were. He didn’t even know your name, for fuck’s sake. You were practically an enigma he was trying to solve. But that stunning smile of yours that never failed to make him swoon motivated him to keep on going.

If you could do it, then so could he.

Then the cold, harsh reality of Camp Toccoa hits him, and his dreams deflate ever so slightly. As Joe wakes up from his sleep and hard ass bed, he prepares himself for the day. He changed his uniform and woke himself up more by rubbing his eyes. 

As the rest of the boys got up, quiet yawns and grumblings arose, but everyone got ready quick. No one loved Camp Toccoa, that was a fact. It was bearable, yes, but Currahee and a certain captain overshadowed it all. Captain Sobel just made it really easy for the paratroopers to hate him. And hate him they did. The men lined up in three rows, and every brow was furrowed. They were only slightly slouching but as Sobel’s infuriating shouts entered their ears.

“You people, are at the position of attention!”

Soon their backs were as straight and as stiff as the gun they carried with them. Captain Sobel shouted his way as he walked briskly, stopping at the end of the line to scrutinise the men. They stood silently, eyes straight forward, but they were waiting for what he would do. Everyone held their breath as Captain Sobel began to nitpick every single little thing that the men had wrong.

First Perconte, Luz, Lipton, then Malarkey. And all of them had their weekend passes taken away from them. One of the only pieces of freedom they had in this shitfest. Those passes were also taken away for the stupidest things that Joe ever heard. A fucking piece of nonexistent thread got Sergeant Lipton’s pass revoked? Joe couldn’t believe it. He’s lucky so far that Sobel wasn’t going over to him. Just who else would he pick?

It seemed like he was choosing men and random and doing whatever he could to get their weekend passes revoked. Joe prayed silently that he wouldn’t go over to him and that maybe he’ll still have his weekend pass after this fucking nightmare-

“Name.”

Fuck.

Captain Sobel right there, right there in front of him, and there was no good way of getting out of this one.

“Liebgott, Joseph D., sir.” 

It took every fiber of his being to not punch the man right there and now, Joe didn’t stand not one bit of his bullshit. Joe stood still as his bayonet was taken out and held in front of his face.

“Rusty bayonet, Liebgott. You wanna kill Germans?”

“Yes sir.”

“Not with this.”

Just as he said his answer, Sobel cut him off with his own response. The fucking bastard. How was he even here? Joe fumed silently as Sobel had the audacity to smack his bayonet against his helmet, the dull thud of it taunting him. It wasn’t even possible to describe how much anger and annoyance Liebgott felt, the air was thick with it and he wanted to get out as soon as possible.

“Now thanks to these men and their infractions, every man in the company who had a weekend pass, has lost it.”

The men groaned mentally, the looks of utter frustration etched on their features. Everyone yearned to give Sobel a taste of his own medicine. Liebgott especially. No weekend pass and the cherry on top was Currahee. Three miles up, three miles down. That phrase still got him feeling fired up just thinking about it. The boys changed quickly into their PT gear, wishing that this would be soon over. That once they get this over with, the day will just become slightly better. The day will go on blah-blah-blah.

But for the time-being, they had to run fucking Currahee.

“Second platoon, fall out.” 

And as soon as Winters gave the command they all rushed back into the barracks to change.The men’s grumpy remarks and the thumping of their shoes filled the air. They were like a herd of cattle and Joe also hated the thought of that. Joe quickly ran over to pick up his bayonet from the ground before running back to join Easy Company. Fan-fucking-tastic. Joe swore that if he ever had the chance, he’ll go and shave Captain Sobel’s hair in his sleep. That was a promise he intended to keep.

—————————

“Can you believe it, George? A rusty fucking bayonet? To get all our weekend passes revoked?” 

“Well, there was also Malarkey, Perconte, Lipton, and I.” George responded, the back of his head pressed against the wooden wall as he wiped sweat off his brow. The events of Currahee all still too fresh in everyone’s minds. Joe continued to motion with his hands dramatically, his voice was still breathless after Currahee. He laid down on his hard bed, sweat clinging to his whole entire body.

“I’ll tell ya, I think it’s better to have rusty bayonets. Makes the stabbing hurt more, no?” Joe sank further, still trying to slow down his breathing before continuing. But the frustration in his voice never wavering.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but at least yours is slightly reasonable. I wouldn’t want to take that shit to war either.”

He looked over to George, who was leaning on the wooden wall next to him with his arms crossed. Joe quickly got out of bed and on to his feet to look at him in disbelief.

“Slightly reasonable? You think it’s slightly reasonable? Well I think it’s not a single bit reasonable.”

“Hey, look at me! Dirt on the rear side, try believin’ that! I don’t even think the dirt’s even real. How can one guy look for one second and says there’s dirt?”

“What do you want me to do? He’s a fucking captain. Just look how he talked to Don. Can officers even do that shit?”

Both George and Joe were exasperated, probably most of Easy Company too. Even the professional and stoic Winters was starting to crack bit by bit. It was infuriating how Sobel abused his position to make them do all of this. All of this was supposed to make them the finest company America has ever seen. To make them the finest company, my ass, the training was straight up torture.

Joe was tired and he really just wanted to fall asleep and never wake up. His body was practically sore and if he moved another muscle it felt like it would collapse.

But you see, falling asleep in a stone-like bed while sweaty was hard. Harder when you had somebody as energetic and comedic as George Luz talking right next to you. And even harder when someone as amazing as you was running continuous circles around in his mind. The words that George had been telling were going into one ear and going out the other. Joe didn’t mean to be rude, but he was daydreaming again.

He couldn’t help it, those imaginary scenarios were just too good to think about. Images of you were conjured up in his head, and he let them take over. The once empty face of his dream wife was slowly being replaced by you and Joe didn’t mind it one bit. 

George’s ramblings of a funny story he had were now just background noise. Joe’s face was unmoving, yet slightly dazed. Pupils were dilated and his nimble and long fingers were picking at the fabric of his trousers.

He wondered constantly what kind of spell you put him in. Joe would also question how easily you had him wrapped around your finger and how you made him track after you like a lost puppy. And without even knowing it. It was fucking amazing to him. He was lucky to be living in the same universe as you. Even way luckier to be in the same vicinity. It was a wonder.

“-I swear, that old man was like a mosquito- Hey Joe! You’re not even listening!”

George brought one of his hands to flick Joe’s forehead, eliciting a quite ‘ow’ and a few colorful curses. Joe rubbed tentatively on the slightly red mark on his forehead while glaring at his cheeky, dark-haired friend.

“Woah- For fuck’s sake Geoge, you didn’t have to do that!”

“I had to get you to listen to me somehow. And if you can’t handle that, how can you handle a war then, huh?”

“Can you just shut up, George?”

Joe reached over to ruffle his hair before punching him lightly in the arm. He pulled back over before sitting up on his bed, arms resting idly on his lap as he finally decided to pay attention to George’s story.

“I’m doing my best. As I was saying-”

George continued, perfectly imitating whatever he was trying to do. The two boys shared chuckles left and right but in no time Joe’s mind crept back to you. It was impossible not to. Fragments of George’s voice popped in and out and overall sometimes just disappeared. George noticed his friend’s daze and stopped talking. He raised his eyebrows for a quick second before getting up.

The rustling of fabric and the creaking of wood snapped him out and Joe’s eyes fell upon George. George offered a small sign of reassurance before putting a hand on Joe’s shoulder.

“Oh sorry, George. At least you didn’t flick me again-”

“Who said anything about me not flicking you?” As soon as George’s remark was made clear in Joe’s mind, he brought out a hand to cover his forehead as he brought his other hand to swat George away from him.

“I’m just kiddi- I’m just kidding, Lieb-” Smiles were brought at their smile exchange and George brought another hand to Joe’s shoulder before speaking.

“Well you see, Joe, you almost caught me worryin’ about you. But this gentleman needs his rest, and I’m pretty sure you need yours too. G’night, Lieb.”

“Yeah yeah, goodnight Georgie.”

Footsteps echoed in the barracks as George made his way to his bed. George plopped down and almost immediately soft snores were heard. Everybody else was mostly asleep by now and Joe knew that he also needed to rest. 

He was still restless honestly, and all of that was thanks to you. He’ll get to know you someday, he was sure of it. But he needed a miracle for that. Joe gazed at the wooden ceiling of the barracks, the crickets outside and the soft snoring of his friends filled the air. He really couldn’t get you out of his head huh? By that time he already knew that you were the one thing he was willing to go to war for. He knew immediately that you were the one. Joe fell asleep in no time. 

If a guy had someone like you on their minds, who wouldn’t?

—————————

Training was hell. As straightforward as it was, it was true. The Georgian heat somehow still managed to make everything worse. First they had to pretend to jump out of an airplane, Joe was just glad Sobel wasn’t on his ass. A few people couldn’t say the same though.

But in the corner of his eye, he sees you with your (H/C) hair tied up. Even amongst the chaos you still looked composed and confident. You were far ahead, that was for sure. Your concentrated face and fast-paced work seemed to put every man to shame. By the time Joe made it to the next course, you were already on the wall. Joe’s eyes pulled from your figure for a second as he put his hands to his head while trying to jump and avoid the rope on the ground.

As he looked up, he scanned the perimeter for any sign of you. As he suspected you were already on the other side. Go figure. Joe was so focused on you, that he failed to notice his footing. His foot tripped on the suspended piece of rope, making him plummet to the ground in no time.

“Fuck!” 

It was the only word that described how he felt about this. It was already a long day, Joe really couldn’t take much more of it. But as he got up on his feet and jogged his way to proceed the training, he pictured your smile and laugh. 

Soon he carried on, with just a tiny hint of happiness with him.

By the time training was over, Joe felt as boneless as a worm. He ran his hands through his hair while making his way towards Luz who seemed to be talking to someone. He was already laughing as he could see and he sped up momentarily.

“Hey-”

George turned around, a cocky smile plastered on his face. His arms were around somebody’s shoulders, but he couldn’t see who. Liebgott was pulled in by Luz and he soon enough was by the side of the energetic man.

“Oh Joey, perfect timing, we were just talking about you to (L/N).”

“Wait a second- To who?” A confused expression overtook his small smile as he looked forward. He quirked an eyebrow and turned over to George who offered nothing but a small smile. 

“The one and only (Y/N) (L/N). I’ve been meaning to introduce you to her for a while now. It’s a miracle you haven’t met her yet. She’s already getting along with everybody else. ‘Cept you of course.”

Holy shit… It was you. Weeks of pining finally lead to this, huh? At least he now knew your name. Joe literally felt like jumping up in the air. He never felt this happy in his dreary stay at Camp Toccoa. You slithered out of George’s grasp and put on a small smile and Joe felt heat rushing to his cheeks. You stepped in front of him, and his legs felt like they were going to collapse at any second.

“Joe Liebgott, finally nice to meet the infamous man. You know, Georgie over here told me a lot about you.” 

(E/C) sparkled with happiness as your voice rang in the air. You brought your hand to shake his and he gladly reciprocated the action. You didn’t notice the awestruck look on his face as you were too busy admiring him. 

He was beautiful, really. You would be lying if you said that you haven’t snuck a few glances at Joe during training and Currahee. You’d always wanted to be friends with him, but you were too busy running around doing errands and favors for officers and your friends. It also really didn’t help how you two sat far away from each other in the mess hall, how you were always far away from him during training at Currahee, or how you always seemed to hang out with the same people but at different times. 

All of those added up in lowering the chances of you and him ever getting close. You sulked most of the time because of it, but at least you had George. But you never expected that the day you almost broke your whole entire body during training was the day that George would introduce you to Joe. Fate really had a weird way of bringing people together. 

You two were left standing face to face, eyes focused solely on each other. You even forgot that your hand was still in his. It was only when George cleared his throat that you were brought back. He stood there with an impatient expression on his face with a smirk threatening to pop out. 

Both you and Joe immediately looked away from each other, nervously stammering. A sheepish grin was on your face and Joe rubbed the back of his neck, attempting to play it cool. George was a lifesaver at this moment, for you wouldn’t know what you would do if it were just you and him.

You decided to excuse yourself, the pounding of your heart was too much to bear and you were pretty sure that your warm face could be seen from a mile away. You shifted your (E/C) eyes towards Lieb and you were slightly surprised to have made eye contact with him. The one time you get to finally meet him and you want to get away. What was he doing to you? 

“Hey George, Lieb, I really need to change outta my clothing right now. I’m gonna go on over to the showers real quick. Oh, and Lieb- Make sure to keep George here out of trouble, will ya?”

You beamed a childish smirk and patted him on the shoulder, unknowingly causing him to flush. As you departed, Joe’s eyes followed your figure until you disappeared from his view. He slumped his shoulders ever so slightly and the small smile on his face disappeared.

“You practically have heart eyes for her, Lieb. I can tell.”

“Shut it George, I don’t. I literally just met her.”

It was a lie, for Joe just fell deeper in love with you. Hopefully George wouldn’t see that. He really didn’t need George telling everybody in the company about his crush. George offered a slight roll of his eyes as he brushed past him.

“Whatever makes you fall asleep at night.”

——————–

After the day that you and Joe were introduced together by George, you two never left each other’s sides. Wherever you went, he followed, and vice-versa. It was the complete opposite of the events a few weeks ago. 

Now you two would practically see each other from a country away and you two never failed to bring smiles on each other’s faces. You’d two would now always sit next to each other in the mess hall, always participating in shenanigans. Cheerful banter was always shared and you couldn’t describe how happy it made you. Gone were the days of you two admiring each other from afar. Because you two can admire each other from up close. Everybody in Easy instantly caught on to both of yours attraction towards one another. Everybody except the two of you. 

You never really took notice of how you held each other’s hands during movies, or how you would sometimes lean your head on Joe’s shoulder in the Mess Hall. You thought it was sweet and while you forced yourself to think that it was just a friendly action, you couldn’t help but think of it as something more.

It was indeed a sight to behold and whenever someone teased you about it, you two would quickly become flushed while rejecting the idea. You would be as red as he was and your endless stammering and Joe’s sassy rebukes were priceless.

During your friendship with Lieb, you, George, and him would take walks in your free time. It would always be spent talking about the training or what you missed from home. Sometimes you three would discuss things you wanted during the war.

George replied how he wanted food and clean bed sheets to sleep on. You said you wanted books and a nice hot shower. Joe’s answer always seemed to surprise you though because you never really expected it from him.

“A girl worth fighting for.”

Those words of his echoed throughout your head. That’s what he wanted. Sometimes you wished that you would be the girl Joe would fight for. It was all you wanted ever since you saw him. You craved for nothing but his love and you hoped that he felt the same. Those thoughts pestered you a lot. You three started going on your daily walks more and more, but George would always seem to excuse himself earlier than before, leaving you and Joe behind. It was awkward at first, but the two of you got comfortable quickly.

It was sunset by now, and it was one of those walks where George left early. You enjoyed these walks. It was peaceful and nobody could interrupt you two. It was your own little slice of heaven and not even Sobel could ruin that. The Georgian heat was chased away by the cool night breeze and the only sounds were your footsteps and the crickets chirping. You just finished laughing at one of Lieb’s jokes and when you faced him you never realized how close you two were. Of course, you grew conscious of the lack of space and you swiftly stepped back and turned your head away. He seemed to do the same, the flush on both of your cheeks were masked by the darkness. 

You soon continued on your walk, but the talking dwindled and you two relaxed in the comfortable silence. You circled the camp at least twice now, and you were planning to stay silent once more until Joe opened his mouth.

“You remember what I wanted during the war, right (Y/N)?”

“Yeah of course, Joey. You said you wanted ‘a girl worth fighting for’, no? What about it?”

Joe stayed silent for a while, seemingly trying to find the right words. You watched him closely and noticed how his lips would open and close again and again. At this point you just wanted to hear where he was going with this.

“Hey Lieb, c’mon, just spit it out-”

“I found that girl.”

“Really? Who’s the lucky gal?-”

“You… It’s you, (Y/N). You’re that girl. You always were- Still are, by the way.”

His voice didn’t hold any comic, teasing, or joking tone, and it surprised you. Your relaxed smile and content expression fell and you looked at him with a quirked brow. 

The both of you have stopped and you looked at him in the eye, butterflies now in your stomach. Your fingers were quickly fiddling with your collar and the air suddenly seemed to raise a few degrees. 

For a statement so straightforward and so obvious, you couldn’t grasp it. It all seemed surreal and it felt like a fever dream. Your fingers stop pulling on your collar and they drop to your sides immediately. You didn’t notice your rapid breathing and Joe waits quietly, his eyes watching for your reaction. 

“You’re joking, right… You like me?”

“Well no shit, of course I like you, (Y/N). I just didn’t think that I would be saying this to you… Here.”

A dry laugh left Joe’s lips as he gestured towards the area. His eyes were directed towards your face again and you just found enough courage to look at him back. You were still speechless, of course. You didn’t think that this would ever happen. At All. 

“I know you’re it, (Y/N). I want you with me. I wouldn’t know what I would do if I just kept to myself. I want you by side during the war so I can have a reminder everyday that there’s still hope in this fucking nightmare.” 

He stopped momentarily to catch his breath before starting once again.

“I want you to meet my Ma after the war and I want you to learn how to bake sufganiyot with you- I want to make you smile. I want to spend my life happily with you- I want you to be my girl worth fighting for. ”

His words were like angelic music to your ears and everything just seemed to get better in some way. You smiled and you unknowingly stepped forward, bringing you closer and closer to him. Joe welcomed your close proximity with open arms and he let you step nearer. You were now practically chest to chest with him. 

No words needed to be said and you could feel yourself pulling your face closer to his. It felt like it was in slow-motion but your lips were finally achingly pressed against his. Joe then knew that you’d be more than willing to love him. Everything just came running down and the passion in the kiss never wavered.

You felt like you were set aflame and you could feel like you were in heaven. Never have you felt this way before, but you loved it. Even as you pulled away, the spark still lingered. Your (E/C) stared deeply into his dark brown ones and it all just seemed to come together. You felt like you have truly reached pure bliss, and you probably already had after this moment. 

“(Y/N), you still have your weekend pass?”

“Luckily for you, I still do. Do you know how glad I am that that horse-faced looking bastard didn’t take it from me? But what trick do you have up your sleeve now, Lieb?”

“I was hoping I could take you into town. I was also planning to take you on the best date you’ll ever have. What do you say, (Y/N)? Would you like that?”

You slung your arm over Joe’s shoulders and you pressed yourself closer to his side. As you two made your way to the barracks, you could feel Joe’s arms hooking around your waist. You placed a soft kiss on his nose and you were met with Joe’s signature, dopey smile, and you couldn’t stop yourself from smiling too.

“I’d like that..”

Joe’s smile exponentially became better and he pulled you close to him. You couldn’t help yourself from pressing another soft kiss on his lips before continuing.

“I’d like that very much, Joe.”


End file.
